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Sold out – to the Man!

Yes, I have sould out. Really! To the Man! The norwegian national agency for archives, libraries and museums have asked me to write a proposal for a library 2.0 project, they’ll even pay me to do so! So, I’m sold, soul and body to the people who might let library 2.0 really happen here in Norway. If they accept my proposal it will be a project under the Norwegian Digital Library (NDL). I have long critizised the NDL for beeing to concerned with underlying structural issues (not that they are not important, but…) and forgetting the everyday lives of library users and workers. I have repeatedly asked for a more 2.0 approach where NDL invites people to participate and make the whole project visible and useful for library users.

I have proposed that NDL initiates and runs a blogging tool for libraries, a wiki like the Library success, widgets and toolbars, and just try to tap into all that energy and lively creativity that just sits around and waits for a challenge.

Anyway, as they say here in Norway: He who shouts in the woods gets pine needles in his mouth:-) So they challenged me back, saying that if I think all this is so important then I should write up a proposal and if the like it they’ll fund it! Wow, talk about challenge.

So these days I’m hard at work writing a proposal which have the working title: The library lab. The concept is a network and clearinghouse of small Web 2.0 projects which will try to collect and network all library hackers, librarians or users, who are interested in contributing. If somebody needs funding to do a small web 2.0 thing, the library lab can contribute with something e.g. funds for people to take time off from work or buy some piece of equipment.

The project also has a fairly large educational component, where the aim is to spread the word on library 2.0 and make more people able to use the basics to improve the services at their libraries, and even enable a few more hackers if possible. There will be conferences to kick this off and hopefully we can get a scandinavian feel to this as time passes.

My mind is bursting with ideas and I’m trying to get them down on screen as soon as possible, then get everything into a passable project proposal and then wait for the desicion. No matter the outcome it has been great to meet and communicate with people so high up in the system who gets the idea of Library 2.0. If this fails I probably was not the right person to write the proposal, but others will come who will do the job better and the, whatch out!